How can I get cheap car insurance? I don’t have a bunch of money and my car is not worth a bunch

Malen

Baltimore, MD

You can head right away to the insurance shop and save time-but you will be wasting a lot of money. Take time to know more about yourself and what it is in you that you could take advantage of to save on your car insurance rate.

You probably heard how high your neighbor paid for his teenage son’s insurance. Teens are statistically found to engage more in accidents so they are charged higher. The rates are even greater if they are male. The only time they can get lower rates is when they reach 25. If you are under this age, it is better to enroll in an advance driving course to save a few dollars. You can also avail discounts if you perform good in school. If you fall between 50 to 65 age brackets, you have the lowest rate in relation to your age. But don’t expect to have low rates if you are a 50-year old doctor.

Medical doctors get paid big time, but they also have heavy premiums-second highest, just a little under students. So if you are a farmer or firefighter, bring validations of your employment because your job has the lowest rate. Pilots, politicians, and homemakers have the least accident rates. Hence, they have the lowest rates in relation to their job. Soldiers, active or retired, are also rewarded for serving the country and they are expected to get at least 2 to 15% off their insurance rates.

You can get more savings if you pick the same company that insures your house or other properties. You may also insure your motorcycle in the same company.

While you have read that it is important to shop around to get the best quotes, it is even more important to continue shopping around. It does not mean that you have to settle once you have chosen your carrier. You must do a regular comparison of quotes, e.g. every 4-6 months. The dollars you save will surely be worth your time.

How do I lower my car insurance rates?

Jim

Wilmington, DE

There are a lot of ways to lower your auto insurance rates. Here are a few simple tips on how you can save on you car insurance rates

1. Shop around. Check car insurance company websites and compare rates and quotes.
2. make sure that the quotes that you’re comparing are for the same coverage.
3. Request for higher deductibles for comprehensive and collision coverage.
4. Ask about discounts that you can take advantage of|
5. Maintain a clean driving record and credit history.

One of the best ways to lower your annual premiums is to have a higher deductible amount.. Like a $1,000, is what I carry personally.

Now, if you are a claim free and safe driver like I am, you could be saving a ton of money each year on your premiums.  People fail to realize that the deductible amount is only paid when they file a claim and their insurance company pays that claim.

Ask for discounts, you never know what you might be able to get and how much you can save by asking.  Some popular discounts can be given for:

1. Military personnel

2. Good grade students

3. Union membership and bank member affiliations

4. Safe drivers with no claims in last 7 years

5. Defensive driving school attendance

6. Clean credit history – used by many carriers to determine payment risk

I’m a good driver, I don’t speed, I never get into an accident, I have a safe car that’s a few years old–so why does my car insurance premium keep on going up?

July

Good question.

It’s annoying to watch those prices rise even when you are doing everything that you can to stop them. However, that is the way it is, and the reason that your premium prices are rising out of your control is not your own fault, but the fault of other people who are insured by your car insurance company. Fixing a car and replacing it are things that are getting more and more expensive every year, and with the number of claims that are filed, it can be difficult for a car insurance company to keep the prices down on their premiums while still making a profit.

You cannot avoid this problem entirely, but one way to lessen its effect is to go looking for a car insurance company whose rates are not rising so rapidly. Get a free online auto insurance quote and see what other companies would offer you in terms of quotes. It could be that you find another company that is just as good as the one you are currently at, but which gives you your car insurance for much cheaper.

Even if your prices aren’t rising at your current car insurance company, then you should still get an online quote every once in a while, just to see where you’re at. Many of the people who have car insurance today and are overpaying are doing so because they become comfortable with their car insurance company and don’t realize that there are companies out there that could be offering them more for their money. A twice yearly look at your policy and your price for updates and searches can keep you satisfied and a little bit richer.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

How do I save on the car insurance that I already have?

Luke

Great question.

Let me keep this simple and quick. There are so many ways to save on car insurance that you wouldn’t believe, but the easiest ways are the following three.

1. Jack up your deductible. Getting a low deductible brings higher car insurance premiums, and considering that you will rarely use that deductible, it just doesn’t make sense to be paying so much over time to pay a smaller price one time. Instead, keep out of your car insurance claims office when it comes to fender benders and save it for the serious stuff. Raise your deductible and make sure you have money set aside to pay for it should you ever have to make a claim.
2. Get rid of what you don’t need. A lot of people end up paying too much on their car insurance premium because they have coverage that just isn’t necessary. You can save a lot of money by going down to just the state minimum on your car insurance and getting rid of things like collision and comprehensive. As a warning, though, only do this if your car isn’t big on value. If you have a car that is worth a lot, stick with the bigger amount of coverage.
3. Discounts! There is a plethora of discounts out there from everything ranging from your report card to your air bags, and depending on the company, in some cases you could save more than three fourths the amount of your premium. It’s worth looking into if you have the qualities typical of a responsible driver, considering that you could save so much.
4. Shop around. You could get a much cheaper price than you have right now just by getting a free online auto insurance quote and comparing the quotes from different companies to see who is best in price with the most value.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.